Isn’t it amazing how issues within another program can trigger thoughts about your own?
Now that we find out that TCU had at least four players dealing grass along with statements gathered by undercover police by said players that at least 60% of the team would fail drug tests, are we more apt to take to heart that Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini always talks about running a clean program? A lot of programs (USC, Ohio State, TCU, Miami, Alabama, etc.) have now been put on some pretty serious negative sanctions/embarrassing light. Need we get started with Penn State.
Four football players were among 17 TCU students arrested on drug charges Wednesday, and an arrest warrant for one of the players alleges that at least three players were dealing drugs. According to the warrant, one of the players also said that drug use was widespread on the Horned Frogs' team.
According to Fort Worth police, the players arrested are: junior linebacker Tanner Brock, junior safety Devin Johnson, junior defensive tackle D.J. Yendrey and sophomore offensive tackle Tyler Horn. They have been removed from the team.
We all want 11 wins and conference championships every year, but I don't think any program is immune to getting in trouble; although it seems Pelini and Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne run a pretty tight ship. It does mean something, right?
Do you want 13 wins and trouble? Or 9-10 wins and no major embarrassment? Or would you rather your team goes 0-for-the season with a clean program or go 13-1 with some crookedness?
That's something that gets lost in the thinking of some fans. Former Nebraska football coach and athletic director Bob Devaney once said: "I don't expect to win enough games to be put on NCAA probation. I just want to win enough to warrant an investigation."
Less than 1% of the youngsters playing today will make a career in the NFL. Character counts in my book and is being taught by Pelini and staff. They might not recruit like Nick Saban, but at the end of the day I would rather have youngsters learning that there is life after college football and get some character building (which will last long after the final whistle) along the way.
Unfortunately, as long as the NCAA looks differently at different programs and some get hammered while others get nothing disparity of performance based upon the integrity of the program will always exist.
What's a clean program? I'd say a program is clean if only a handful of guys get arrested each year. If you randomly selected 120 non-athlete college guys that's about what you'd get. A handful of arrests, mostly for DWI and such. Also by clean I'd say we don't have guys juicing to build muscle, and cleverly covering it up.
Arrests and bad behavior mean the program isn't clean, it means the players who are part of it get into trouble. How the coach runs his ship and how he responds to these incidents define how clean the program is. You could hand a principled coach a roster full of thugs who, all they do is get arrested, but it doesn't mean that coach isn't running a clean program.
Nebraska has had a decent amount of alcohol related incidents during Pelini's tenure; however, I'm not stating alcohol related incidents have increased under him. Just wondering where some draw the clean/dirty line. I think there's a difference between "clean" and "pristine".
When the school's biggest problem is giving the players textbooks, I think we're a pretty clean program. Seriously, every program is going to have players getting into some mischief (especially with alcohol). I hate to excuse that sort of behavior, but it's almost part of being in college. I realize that these guys are expected to maintain higher standards than most students, but that doesn't mean they aren't human and don't make mistakes.
I'm just glad Nebraska isn’t anywhere near the level that Ohio State or Penn State. On a national scale, the Huskers are a pretty squeaky-clean program.
If I had to choose between running a clean program and winning 5-7 games each year versus running a program that bends the rules a little but is in the perennial hunt for the national title, I'd take the latter. But I think we have close to the best of both worlds at NU. The football team is run very well and nine wins a year is nothing to be ashamed of despite how frustrated some fans are that the program has not reached BCS Bowl level under Pelini. Hopefully this coming season we can break through that barricade and win 11-14 games.
No comments:
Post a Comment